The Washington Chorus
A few weeks ago, I accepted an offer to be the new Director of Finance and Administration for The Washington Chorus (TWC). TWC is the oldest independent choral ensemble in the Washington area, appears regularly on the area’s most prominent stages (including the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Music Center at Strathmore in Maryland, and Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia), and holds two GRAMMY Awards. TWC, with over six decades of service to the Washington area, is embarking on a new strategic plan and building its administrative capacity, including creating several new staff roles, among them this director role that I am assuming.
For context, it has been just over a year since I took my current job as finance manager with Capital Partners for Education. That transition was a big shift for me in that it took me out of the performing arts, the field where I had spent my entire career to that point. I knew I would miss it, and to be sure, I did. I knew I would want to get back into arts management in a few years, but I hadn’t been actively looking.
The story still makes my head spin: TWC’s executive director, Stephen Beaudoin, found me through LinkedIn, learned some more about me through mutual professional connections, and invited me to candidate for the role. At the end of our first Zoom call in mid-April, I confessed myself intrigued, but not certain if I wanted to move forward. I was hopelessly distracted the rest of that day.
The next day, I met a new friend for dinner. I told him the story up to that point and he said, “Eric, I’ve only ever had about 30 minutes of conversation with you, but I can tell you’re excited about this.”
And on the next day, after just 48 hours of thinking, praying, considering my career goals, and talking with Naomi, my parents, and a few others, I wrote to Stephen and said yes, I would be interested in joining his team!
Stephen and I met for coffee a week later, where we talked more about TWC’s plans and needs along with my own experiences and career aspirations. A week after that I had my only formal interview, with Stephen, Artistic Director Eugene Rogers, and two of the department heads.
Suffice it to say that even though two months ago this type of transition was not part of my summer plans, I am now genuinely eager and excited for this new role. Even in my first introductory Zoom call with Stephen, it was so refreshing to “talk shop” about arts management. It was all about budgets and banking and balance sheets, but in the context of concerts and choral music and I was into it.
Which relates to a secondary effect: one of my ancillary professional goals is to contribute as a thought leader to the field of nonprofit management broadly and the nonprofit arts field specifically. I’ve been slowly building my bibliography and now that I’ll be back in this field for my day job, I’ll have that much more inspiration for further writing. (Stay tuned for more on that!)
I am beyond grateful that I can do what I’m good at – nonprofit finance management – in the field that I love – the performing arts. I consider this new opportunity a gift from God and I’m continuously humbled and amazed by the way my professional journey has unfolded through the Lord’s gracious provision of every opportunity.
Arts management field: Eric is back!
